Winter Rims for MSP

[OrangeAppeal]

Just to start off....I already did a search.

My question is this:
I want to get a set of winter rims. Probably 15" and I don't want anything fancy....in fact, I want steelies. I don't want to run into the problem of having the rear tires rub on the fender lip, so I called Town Fair Tire (2 different locations) to see what they had to alleviate my worries. I tell them what my worries are, and they call up the warehouses to see what they can find. The only thing they tell me is they can get the steel rims that would go onto a stock protege.

Does anyone know if i would run into clearance probs using stock steel rims from a non-mazdaspeed protege? At least for the rear anyway?

Or does anyone know part numbers or what to order from where for steel winter rims for the MSP?

Thanks.

 

[andr3w]

Hi OrangeAppeal,

I am in Michigan and just did the same. I went with Michelin Arctic Alpin 195/55R-15 snow tires on Fondmetal 6200 series rims 15x7 5-114.3. It all fits, all works, no rubbing, things are tight but I am happy so far. The tire place has an MP3 owner so I was in good hands. Steelies would be cheaper but I was able to get the rims on sale and they got the price lower than competition on steels.


Andrew

 

[andr3w]

btw, the offset is 55mm

 

[BSN_mt]

I don't know if the brake diameters are different on the msp than the p5, but I didn't have any problem placing 15inch steels on my car. They said the wheel wasn't specificaly designed for the protege but was just had a standard bolt pattern on it.

It has worked fine, and if was about $200 bucks cheaper than trying to fine a 16" low profile snow tire.

 

[JasonH]

Call Tire Rack. They recommend a 195/55 on a 15x6 steel wheel. You will not be able to beat their prices locally. Standard steel wheels for a Protege or P5 will fit the Mazdaspeed no problem. They even have the Mazdaspeed listed in their system and know what will fit it.

 

[OrangeAppeal]

Call Tire Rack. They recommend a 195/55 on a 15x6 steel wheel. You will not be able to beat their prices locally. Standard steel wheels for a Protege or P5 will fit the Mazdaspeed no problem. They even have the Mazdaspeed listed in their system and know what will fit it.

I've read somewhere that there might be an issue with using anything narrower than a 7" wide rim on the front, not to mention that there have been issues running a 42mm offset on the rear made the tire rub the fender lip...I'm sure that the steel rims are no where near the 55mm offset of the stock rims.

These are my main areas of concern

 

[BSN_mt]

I had the rubbing issues when I had a larger tire on 16 inch wheels (205/55/R16). They were rubbing on the fender under a pretty big load when I when over bumps or turned pretty sharply.

I haven't had any problem with the smaller size tire.

 

[JasonH]

I've read somewhere that there might be an issue with using anything narrower than a 7" wide rim on the front, not to mention that there have been issues running a 42mm offset on the rear made the tire rub the fender lip...I'm sure that the steel rims are no where near the 55mm offset of the stock rims.

These are my main areas of concern

Why are you "sure" the steel wheels wouldn't be the correct offset? I suspect they are +55mm since that's the proper offset for Protege5/ES/MP3/MSP. You could certainly ask Tire Rack what offset they are.

Why do you think a narrower wheel would cause a problem? I don't think it matters at all as long as the offset is correct. The rumors that you read were just that.

+42mm is not a proper offset for a Protege so I'm not surprised people have problems.

Since I'm bored, here's a bonus picture from the Tire Rack:

 

[OrangeAppeal]

JasonH
I really appreciate your input and you put my worries to rest. Thanks for the info everyone.

Thanks
Jesse